Fletcher in the News

Dean Stavridis Comments on Possibility of Wider War in the Middle East

Date: January 20, 2014

Former NATO commander warns of wider war in Middle East

NATO’s former top military commander has warned that the widening sectarian conflict in Syria and Iraq could engulf a broader region in the Middle East, just as the religious wars in Europe did in the 16th and 17th centuries.

James Stavridis, who served as the alliance’s supreme commander until last year, said that although Syria and Iraq are the flashpoints of the conflict at the moment, Lebanon and other nearby nations could easily be sucked into a war. He said the conflicts present a direct security threat to Europe as well.

“I worry deeply about the potential for this Sunni-Shia conflict to widen into a truly regional war,” Stavridis said.